A
Sermon for V Lent All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Southern Shores,
NC April 6, 2014 Thomas E. Wilson, Rector
William
Temple: “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit
of those who are not its members."
Today
we will be distributing the proceeds from the All Saints’ After
Dark program. We stole the idea of the After Dark series from St.
Patrick Roman Catholic School in Norfolk, and they stole it from a
school in Nashville, Tennessee who probably stole it from someone
else. The idea is to have a series of classes in the evening in which
volunteers from the community share what they love. We had 85
instructors for 67 classes and over 750 students and 70 volunteer
staff for clean-up, welcoming, registration, and administration for
four weeks in February. We had chefs from local restaurants, wine,
cheese, and beer classes, historians, artists, artisans, craftsmen,
medical people, scholars, experts of all kinds and one heck of a lot
of fun. And then we give the money we raise back to the community for
those in need. We celebrate the community which works together to
have fun and works together to make a difference. More than money,
All Saints’ expects members to be involved in the making of a
better community with their time and talents. Once a month in the
Sunday service, we have a “Ministry Moment” when a volunteer
shares how community involvement has helped him or her grow
spiritually.
All
Saints’ has a tight budget and so our church does other fund
raisers as well. But we give 10% of the funds raised to the
community as a reminder to ourselves that we are not here to be an
island of piety for the pious but to be an integral part of the
larger community in which God has called us to minister. However, in
the past 5 years in the All Saints’ After Dark Program alone, we
have netted and contributed more than 46 thousand dollars to local
agencies dedicated to helping the less fortunate. We have tried to
get other churches to steal the idea from us as well for we believe
that the function of a church is to bring life and healing to a
broken world.
The
lessons for today underscore the call of the faithful community to
bring life. In the Hebrew Testament lesson from Ezekiel, the prophet
is called to be an instrument for bringing the bones of a shattered
community in exile back into vibrant life. In the letter from Paul to
the Romans, the apostle calls us away from self-absorption and into
being the body of the Risen Christ in the world, to heal the
divisions and to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
The Gospel lesson from the Community of the Beloved Disciple
remembers the story of Jesus and Lazarus to remind us that we are to
go to the tombs of despair and unbind the captives and set them free.
William
Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury during World War II said, “The
Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who
are not its members." We take him seriously - that our task at
All Saints’ is not to create a solid religious institution that
will live in splendor but to die to ourselves so that others may
live. In the service today, we will have four offerings. The second
offering will be the giving of the proceeds of All Saints’ After
Dark to five different local ministries that are active in helping
the people whom God loves: The Beach Food Pantry, Food For Thought,
Interfaith Community Outreach, The Community Care Clinic, and Room at
the Inn. The third offering will be the tithes and offerings of the
members of this parish to keep this church institution afloat. The
fourth offering will be when all are invited to receive communion
with God as we come and offer ourselves to be in union with Christ to
bring new life to the world.
Now
let us begin the first offering - the prayers of hearts which we
offer ourselves and those we love to the throne of Grace for healing
of mind, body, and spirit. To begin our offering, I ask you to join
with me and turn to page 833 of the Book of Common Prayer where we
will say together the prayer attributed to St. Francis.
Lord,
make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow
love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where
there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we
may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood
as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we
receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying
that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
(October 15, 1881-October 26, 1944, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, England). Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, 1942-1944. Son of Archbishop Frederick Temple. President, Workers' Educational Association, 1908-1924. Ordained Priest, Anglican Church, December 19, 1909. Headmaster, Repton School, 1910. Honorary Chaplain to George V, WWI. Leader, Life and Liberty Movement. Bishop of Manchester, England, November, 1920. Archbishop of York, 1929-1940. Archbishop of Canterbury, 1942-1944. Outspoken advocate for social reform. Campaigned against poverty, unemployment, and poor housing.
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